In order to promote regulatory efficiencies, the Labor Department should hold a public hearing on its proposed prohibited transaction exemption which replaces the fiduciary rule that was vacated by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash. The agency should consider including the Securities and Exchange Commission in the hearing "to ensure that both agencies and all affected stakeholders are on the same page," she said in a letter to the acting head of the department's Employee Benefits Security Administration.

The Financial Planning Association says the Securities and Exchange Commission's Regulation Best Interest treats financial planners unfairly by allowing broker-dealers to provide investment advice "without registration under the Investment Advisers Act" and the attendant fiduciary duty. FPA made its comments to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit in a friend of the court brief filed in support of the case brought by XY Planning Network against Reg BI, and oral arguments have been set for June 2.

The US Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit in an 8-6 ruling refused to reconsider a December decision that established the individual mandate portion of the Affordable Care Act as unconstitutional. The US Supreme Court is currently reviewing whether to take up the challenge, but has refused a Democratic request to expedite the case.

The office of Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has urged the US Court of Appeals to dismiss a lawsuit aimed at improving education in the state and establishing the right to literacy within the US Constitution. The lawsuit was filed by predecessors to Whitmer's administration, but critics say she ran on a platform supporting the case, which seeks to establish the right of students to learn the basics of literacy.